Diversity and Pressure Injury Prevention
DECEMBER IS DIVERSITY AND PRESSURE INJURY PREVENTION MONTH For this month's WoundSource Practice Accelerator series, we are providing education on a variety of topics related to the prevention of pressure injury development in diverse populations. Scroll below to read this month's white paper and articles, to print out our quick fact sheet, and to sign up for this month's webinar.
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Upcoming Webinar
Patient Diversity and Pressure Injury Prevention
Friday, December 17Neesha Oozageer Gunowa MSc, PGCert, BSc, SPT, DN, RN, QN
Pressure injuries are, unfortunately, all too common in all areas of care. Studies have shown that patients with dark skin tones are more likely to develop full-thickness pressure injuries, and black patients are most likely to develop these injuries than any other ethnic group. It is suspected that a contributing cause of increased incidence in this population is due to difficulty recognizing early-stage pressure injuries in people with dark skin tones. Currently, the majority of pressure injury assessments and staging education is centered on skin tones. This gap in education has put patients of color at increased risk of full-thickness pressure injury development. Current education standards should be adjusted to review pressure injury presentation across skin tones, so clinicians are better prepared to provide care to all patients. By attending this webinar, you will:
- Have an awareness of the research addressing skin tone bias through the lens of pressure injuries in nurse education.
- Be given practical tips and considerations when assessing peoples skin with dark skin tones to ensure effective wound treatment and preventative care.
- Gain increased confidence in the early detection of pressure injuries in people with dark skin tones and understand some of the language to aid your practice.
White Paper
Pressure Injury Identification in Lightly vs. Darkly Pigmented Skin
Patients with darker skin tones are more likely to develop full-thickness pressure injuries (PIs), at least partly because of difficulties in detecting wounds early. It is therefore important to be aware of the different manifestations of PIs in patients with light or dark skin tones....Fact Sheet
Quick Facts - Diversity and Pressure Injury Prevention
All patients should have a detailed history and a complete skin examination within 24 hours of hospital admission to check for pressure injuries (PIs), as well as to assess the risk of future PI development. Health care professionals need to be aware that PIs are less easily detected in darkly pigmented skin. High-risk patients require a PI prevention plan that includes offloading, turning schedules, and nutrition consultations. In patients who already have PIs, digital wound monitoring apps all...Featured Articles
Promoting Pressure Injury Prevention Technology
Do you remember that cartoon from the 1960s (and later reproduced in the 1980s), The Jetsons? It was about a futuristic family that had all kinds of amazing robot helpers and automatic appliances. Rosie the Robot was the wonderbot that would whisk about the house, frantically preforming housekeeping...
Read MorePressure Injury Prevention: Recognizing the Early Signs of Injury
Here’s a question for you: How long does it take for a pressure injury (PI) to form? Do you think it happens in 30 minutes? 2 hours? 8 hours? The answer is actually all of the above. The time it takes for a PI to develop depends on a number of different factors, which we will discuss here. ...
Read MoreBuilding a Pressure Injury Prevention Plan in a Low-Resource Facility
A nurse recently shared some of her experiences as a charge nurse in a skilled facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. She worked evenings (3-11:30 pm) at a local facility and was overwhelmed by the high number of patients she was responsible for. She typically worked on a 26-bed floor with just one ...
Read MorePressure Injury Monitoring: Using Technology in a Time of Hospital Overcrowding
In the last 2 years, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities have seen unprecedented surges in admissions attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the world. Just in the United States, we saw a high of 116,243 weekly hospital admissions in mid-January of 2021. This dropped to a low of 13...
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Important Terms to Know
